In
the mid-1980s, anime was in its golden age in Japan. With a booming
economy, and a huge OVA (direct to video) industry churning out new
and interesting miniseries, creative juices were the highest they'd
ever been before or since, with talented creators getting to do
those vanity projects they'd always wanted. So it must be fate that
a bunch of fan boys who ran a successful model kit company came
forward with their vision of a Sci-Fi Right
Stuff, with a completely new bend. GAINAX, best known in
America for Neon Genesis Evangelion,
was given the most money ever spent on an animated film in Japan
based on a 5 minute pitch film.

What emerged on the other side is arguably one of the finest films
ever to come out of Japan. On another world, the kingdom of
Honneamise has had a space program running for decades. Largely the
joke outfit of the military, the Space Force is full of lazy
do-nothings and people who are treading water in life. It's not
until the threat of loss of funding that the powers that be decide
that they must move forward with a manned launch. Shirotsugh Ladhatt
laughed at even the notion of a man in space, until he meets a woman
in the red light district of the capital who changes his life
forever. He gains meaning in his life, and suddenly sees spaceflight
as a way to improve humanity as a whole and volunteers to be their
Alan Shepard. Meanwhile there are those in the government that want
nothing to do with this foolish enterprise, until they see that they
might be able to maneuver the launch for their own political gain,
and get a war going to stimulate Honneamise's failing economy.

The Manga Entertainment DVD of Wings of
Honneamise is widely reviled as a poster child for poor
compression and authoring. From the horrific telecine to the double
flagging, fake anamorphic and the ludicrous edge halos, many
professionals I've shown it to couldn't believe it ever was released
at all, as The VHS looks better in many cases. Fans of the film can
now breathe a sigh of relief that they can now own the film the way
it's meant to be seen. Presented window-boxed in its proper 1.66:1
ratio, this new high-definition version of Wings
of Honneamise finally brings the theatrical experience
that only a handful of Westerners have experienced home. Finally the
lush and detailed backgrounds are crystal clear, and line definition
is sharp as a tack. The final launch footage, drawn directly from
Apollo launch footage are breathtaking, with thousands of small
details popping out for the first time. While it loses some points
from the realities of the time period, minor cases of dust and
debris that were on the original cels when photographed for
instance, I seriously doubt the original prints of the film looked
any better 20 years ago. The companion DVD features an encode that
appears to be recycled from the 1997 THX-certified Renewal
edition, and is excellent in its own right. A separate HD-DVD/DVD
bundle is also available that features an almost identical
compression using the VC-1 codec.

Bandai really went all out for the film's 10th anniversary in 1997,
not only did they get THX to help clean up the elements, but they
took the sound elements to Skywalker Sound for a full-on remix. The
result is included here for Western audiences for the first time.
The Dolby TrueHD track exhibits much wider dynamic range than the
Dolby Digital 5.1 on the previous Japanese DVD. While many areas of
the mix are subtle, a breath of wind, crowd noise, it envelops you
in the environment of its world. Too many Hollywood soundtracks go
from flat front-centered sound field right to the holosonic boom
sequences, but the consistent world that Honneamise
creates is an aural treat. The original theatrical mix is included
in uncompressed PCM stereo for posterity, along with the same
mediocre dub from the Manga DVD.

The one area where this release falls down is in the extras
department. A superb, densely written 20 page booklet is included
covering everything from the history of GAINAX to animation special
effects techniques. Sadly absent from this new all-but-definitive
edition of the film is the superb commentary track that Manga did
with director Hirouki Yamaga and the assistant director, Takami
Akai, and it's worth tracking down that disc if only for that
feature. Also missing is a single deleted scene that really doesn't
go anywhere, but was nice to have as so few animated films have
actual finished deleted scenes. Rounding it out are 1080 transfers
of the theatrical trailer and the original pitch film.

For many people, the $79.99 list price of this film is a shock.
Japanese home video prices were set back in the early 80s, when the
yen was almost half the value it is now, and given that the U.S. and
Japan now share a region code, and the existence of Amazon.com, it
is frankly impossible to set the prices much lower. The inclusion of
the DVD with the Blu allows them to produce a single SKU to make it
easier for shops to carry the title without adding much at all to
the price (only a dollar or so at manufacture). While I dearly wish
that Bandai Visual in the future will manage to grow their
international sales to the point where producing retrospective
documentaries is financially feasible, I understand that their new
approach, unified releases across the U.S. and Japan is a worthy
one, and no one can argue with the quality of the end product. The
Wings of Honneamise is a landmark film that possibly
speaks more to today than it did 20 years ago, and is an important
part of any true film lover's collection.

As
the last theatrical animated film released in Japan using purely
traditional techniques, Jin-Roh feels very much like its creator
Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell,
Avalon). Many of his films
center around hanging onto the warmth of humanity in the face of
stark and cold dystopia, and certainly there is a certain texture
lost, especially with the resolution of Blu-ray, in the brushstrokes
and minor flaws that give hand-drawn and painted art its character.
Jin-Roh tells the story of an
alternate Japan, where after World War 2 reconstruction the country
was besieged by terrorist factions, and so an antiterrorist police
force was created: The Wolf Brigade. They've spent years tracking
down a major terrorist group, and after a disastrous confrontation
with a suicide bomber, a lone member begins to question the path
he's taken in the world.

The video of Jin-Roh features
none of the (albeit minor) cross-coloration that has plagued so many
versions of this movie. The entire film has a very drab and
pseudo-sepia toned color scheme, meant to emulate newsreels of the
40s and 50s that feels far more accurate to the print I saw years
back than the browner, muddier tones of the previous Bandai DVD.
Freed from the constraints of DVD bandwidth and the limitations of
NTSC television, the grand artistry of the hand drawn and painted
backgrounds is a wonder to behold. The only thing marring this
otherwise gorgeous presentation is occasional bouts of print damage,
dust and debris (virtually all of which appear to be on the
negative), and occasional bouts of very fine film grain. None of
which I found to be a distraction. Disc load time from insertion to
movie start (including language selection) was under 60 seconds on
my BD-10A.

Instead of the TrueHD track that was on Wings
of Honneamise, Bandai has gone back to basics with an
uncompressed PCM track on Jin-Roh.
This film is not a thunderous tour-de-force of audio, or a subwoofer
Olympics, and instead relies far more on its quiet moments than the
noisy ones. I feel that silence is underappreciated in the film
world, especially when the high compression of a standard Dolby
Digital track tends to remove the environmental flavor of a scene by
muffling all of those little taps, rustles and background
conversations that are the icing on a sound designer's cake. Jin-Roh
is not a loud film, but it is an immersive one, and Hajime
Mizoguchi's moving score has never sounded better.

Once again, Bandai Visual has not included extras that are on the
previous U.S. DVD release, and I have to ask why since it that
2-disc special edition was released, unlike Honneamise,
by their sister division Bandai Entertainment. Whether it's
ignorance of the existence of these extras, licensing issues, or
what, it's very disappointing to people paying $69.95 for the
upgrade to not get everything they already have. The only on-disc
extra is 4 theatrical trailers, subtitled in English. Finishing up
the package is a very attractive box and a 500+ page booklet (must
be read right to left) of storyboards for the film. While since its
contents are untranslated, it will be of limited use to U.S.
audiences, it is interesting to glance through. I wish my Japanese
reading comprehension was better, and there are extensive notes in
the margins that undoubtedly give some great insight into the
production process. Far more effective would probably be to place
these images on a subtitle track and have them play in the corner
for a direct comparison.

While high prices necessitated by the low runs, cost of living
differences and retail prices between the U.S. and Japan are
necessary for these nearly simultaneous releases, there can be no
doubt that the end result is a top-notch presentation worthy of the
film. Unlike other Blu-ray releasing companies, Bandai chooses to
use DVD Amaray keepcases. In a recent interview with Animeondvd.com,
they said they feel the larger packaging is more conducive to a
collector's edition, and on the surface I believe their right. The
LD sized boxes they put out with their first DVDs were beyond
gorgeous, but at the same time I have to note a lot of people being
upset that they can't fit these discs in with their other Blu-rays.
I believe that there is a place of compromise, putting a spacer in
the box to fill the void between a Blu-elite box and an Amaray so
that those that wish to can remove it and place it on the rack, or
even just including artwork for a standard Elite in there so you can
easily replace it would go a long way toward satisfying both
parties. Between that and including more existing extras in future
releases, I believe Bandai Visual can create a stable customer base
in North America.

Whether Bandai Visual's releases ever gain a large following in the
United States is debateable, but whether those who choose to spend
the money will be happy I think is not. Recommended.